One of the creative directors behind the upcoming Halo 4 has left Microsoft's …

Ryan Payton was formerly an assistant producer at Kojima Productions where he worked on Metal Gear Solid 4, and he followed that up by becoming a creative director at Microsoft's 343 Industries, where he worked on the Halo franchise since 2008. Now Payton has announced that he's leaving Microsoft to form his own indie studio even before Halo 4 is released, stating that he's no longer "creatively excited about the project anymore."

Although Payton said that he doesn't regret his time working on the game, it appears that working on such a large-scale endeavor meant that he had less influence on the project than he would have liked. "The Halo I wanted to build was fundamentally different and I don't think I had built enough credibility to see such a crazy endeavor through," he told Kotaku

His new studio, dubbed Camouflaj, is already working on two unannounced projects. He explained that he was inspired by Haunted Temple Studios founder Jake Kazdal, who left EA to form his own studio and work on the upcoming turn-based strategy game Skulls of the Shogun, becoming one of an increasingly large number of game developers leaving large studios to go indie.

"I think time is the most valuable thing we have," explained Payton. "And I've decided that I'm not going to waste one more day working on something that doesn't speak to my values."

To me his reason seems to mean he wanted halo to be X, and it was turning out to be Y. He says he didn't have enough credibility to make sure the game was his vision. IMO that means halo 4 could be great...or bad. He isn't saying he left because the game stunk and he could not bring himself to work on it anymore...just that he had envisioned a different game. Hopefully we will get to see his vision of a good game from his new company.

To me his reason seems to mean he wanted halo to be X, and it was turning out to be Y. He says he didn't have enough credibility to make sure the game was his vision. IMO that means halo 4 could be great...or bad. He isn't saying he left because the game stunk and he could not bring himself to work on it anymore...just that he had envisioned a different game. Hopefully we will get to see his vision of a good game from his new company.

Time will tell if halo4 turns out to be crap or good.

Which could also mean that how Halo 4 turns out will speak volumes towards whether we should view his upcoming games in a positive or negative light based on his better judgment.

To me his reason seems to mean he wanted halo to be X, and it was turning out to be Y. He says he didn't have enough credibility to make sure the game was his vision. IMO that means halo 4 could be great...or bad. He isn't saying he left because the game stunk and he could not bring himself to work on it anymore...just that he had envisioned a different game. Hopefully we will get to see his vision of a good game from his new company.

Time will tell if halo4 turns out to be crap or good.

This. However, this being the internet, I give this thread 10 more posts before the Halo haters show up claiming this as proof that Halo 4 is a terrible game and that no one will buy it and blah blah blah...

To me his reason seems to mean he wanted halo to be X, and it was turning out to be Y. He says he didn't have enough credibility to make sure the game was his vision. IMO that means halo 4 could be great...or bad. He isn't saying he left because the game stunk and he could not bring himself to work on it anymore...just that he had envisioned a different game. Hopefully we will get to see his vision of a good game from his new company.

Time will tell if halo4 turns out to be crap or good.

This. However, this being the internet, I give this thread 10 more posts before the Halo haters show up claiming this as proof that Halo 4 is a terrible game and that no one will buy it and blah blah blah...

Good, I'm glad this mentality of not wanting to be a cog in a giant machine is trickling down to developers to continue the indie game renaissance. 343; I look forward to when you make original content; because I know it will be polished, and you've proven that with the map packs in Halo Reach, but I have no desire to purchase the next Halo game until it's at least $30 or cheaper.

If he wanted to build something "fundamentally different", then I'd have to think leaving is the right move. Halo needs to be Halo, for better or worse. If it doesn't truly feel like a Halo game, then that would be a problem. The only thing a Halo player should be concerned with is it might just end up being an unnecessary sequel.

i can't imagine halo 4 will be much different from every other halo game that's come out. That is to say the "innovations" generally involve different types of grenades rather than significant modifications to the gameplay mechanic. It probably wouldn't require much forward/independent thinking to ruffle feathers when it comes to a cash cow like Halo.

Anybody that signs up to work on halo has got to expect that the creative side of things is going to be terribly limited. Established franchises like Halo and Call of Duty sit on their laurels because their respective fanbases are content with that stagnant sort of complacency.

If he wanted to build something "fundamentally different", then I'd have to think leaving is the right move. Halo needs to be Halo, for better or worse. If it doesn't truly feel like a Halo game, then that would be a problem. The only thing a Halo player should be concerned with is it might just end up being an unnecessary sequel.

Good luck convincing the guys upstairs to dramatically change their multi-billion dollar franchise as well. I'm guessing this guy saw it as a new team, new ideas, a chance to take it in a new direction. But considering how well Reach was received (never played it myself, but the reviews are all great) and how much Microsoft likes making money, that would never happen. It's got to be hard as a new creative director though, being told you can't leave your mark on something.

You can pretty much interpret this as "Halo 4 is going to be more of the same."

Which means the single player game will be another epic story with alternately easy and ridiculously hard sections, and the multiplayer will be what you'd expect from the game series that introduced teabagging.

Whether this is your thing or not is your call. It obviously wasn't sitting well with Mr. Payton.

I highly doubt Halo 4 is going to be any different than the last few Halo's.

Its kind of gotten stuck into this mode similar to CoD. New maps and a few weapons changes, and slightly updated graphics, but not much because it already pushes what the 360 can do. And then in a special DLC, you can get the old maps back again.

I don't think you can read anything into Halo 4 from this except that it's not what he wanted it to be. Being the creative director, he probably wanted something that required some creativity, and not just your standard shooter sequel.

But there's nothing to suggest it won't be good if what you want is another Halo game.

It's not really surprising to hear that the Halo franchise is getting creatively stale. This is the fourth Halo main line release this generation (I'm generously ignoring the Halo: CE remake and Halo Wars spinoff).

I'm no sequel hater, but putting out even two games of the same franchise in one generation is pushing your luck. Four in one generation and you're going to fatigue your IP. People will become bored and look to other brands for something fresh. Publishers have got to learn that they're undermining their own products by putting out a sequel every year or even every other year.

You can pretty much interpret this as "Halo 4 is going to be more of the same."

Which means the single player game will be another epic story with alternately easy and ridiculously hard sections, and the multiplayer will be what you'd expect from the game series that introduced teabagging.

Whether this is your thing or not is your call. It obviously wasn't sitting well with Mr. Payton.

I think I've come up with the most appropriate industry comparison to this phenomenon.

No, I don't think this means he doesn't like Halo 4.

It's exactly like auto industry types leaving a large manufacturer to go racing. Indie games are about passion, connecting to fans and freedom, like racing. The large studios and huge AAA games are about maximizing profit and bean counters and boring details of execution and refinement, just like mass manufacturing. Just a thought.

He only joined the Halo team in 2008, well after Halo 3. I like my Halo games familiar and sane, not "crazy" and "fundamentally different", thanks. I won't miss him.

Well, Halo 3 and Reach introduced drop items and armor abilities, respectively, which were *quite* different. I'm not sure how deep "fundamentally" goes, but those were pretty big changes that I enjoyed.

I wonder what his ideas were. As long as it isn't cover-based combat or making halo a 2d platformer, I could be interested.

I guess the Halo fallback storyline ("Look, there's MORE Halos! Go blow those up again! I swear it'll be interesting and unique this time") wasn't creatively exciting enough. Change is too scary for Halo. Then again, why risk inventing something new when you can make millions pushing the same thing?

I agree that it doesn't say anything one way or another about how good Halo 4 will be. It is another sign, though, of the trend in entertainment media, in which creative people feel they can strike out on their own, and many prefer to do so.

Probably a good move, you want people that are excited about a franchise working on it. As fun as the Halo games and lore can be, I can see anyone getting tired of working on one thing for so long. Smaller indie games are definitely more attractive to those seeking to explore their creativity.

I haven't been "creatively excited" about Halo since Halo 1. That said, I don't demand creative excitement from every game. Or at least, not the same kind. I expect Halo to be Halo-ish. At this point, they're basically continuing the story, so unless they really want to replace the kitchen sink (gameplaywise), they need to focus on making the story really good.

I'm very sad to hear this. But then again, when he announced he was going to work for MGS (Microsoft Game Studios), I saw this coming. MGS will never let anyone change so much about what Halo is about--shooting aliens as a super human. In my head, I can see him trying to make the game more story-centric, and the execs shooting down everything he tries to do.

I'm sure the game will be superb. Just not *different* as Ryan wanted it to be.

so to be clear, he was super excited about creating waypoint and waypoint for WP7, and a couple maps for reach... but making halo 4 the game became boring?

i do want to see how halo 4 turns out... a big eye opener for me was Halo Wars, playing that game, you see the difference between an average studio and bungie. There was just no attention to detail in that game, at all...

i can't wait to see a real halo game from another studio and Bungie make a non halo game.

I think this all sounds good. It is a place for both block buster type games and Indie games. Sometimes you love a game so much that you just want more of the same. Personally I want more of the same when it comes to Hitman, which for some reason I really loved.

Recently I have been playing Crysis, replayed some Gears of War2, Killzone 3 etc and found out that I am really ready to play other types of games. Some of my experience with iPhone games is that quite simple games can very entertaining.

I am certainly very positive to the recent Indie games development. I have been a big fan of Halo but I think I have had my dose. I don't need another sequel.

I guess the Halo fallback storyline ("Look, there's MORE Halos! Go blow those up again! I swear it'll be interesting and unique this time") wasn't creatively exciting enough. Change is too scary for Halo. Then again, why risk inventing something new when you can make millions pushing the same thing?

Well you really can't blame the folks at Microsoft or 343 for sticking to the formula. Like you said, the Halo games keep selling millions of units. Doesn't really matter if the critique Halo is stale is valid or not (A postion I personally hold on the fanchise). The games sell well and until sales drop, they're going to stick with what works.

I do think if they keep reproducing the same titles with little to no innovation, they run the risk of "Final Fantasyizing" their product. Where they only sell their games to the existing fan base and draw little, to no new blood in.

On topic I certainly understand the guy's point. He's the creative director for a title that from a creative/design standpoint, is a victim of it's own success. I'm not sure the suits or the Halo fanbase would tolerate even moderate changes to the game as it's known.

I do think if they keep reproducing the same titles with little to no innovation, they run the risk of "Final Fantasyizing" their product. Where they only sell their games to the existing fan base and draw little, to no new blood in.

Good point, I'd argue they've already reached that point, or are approaching it rapidly anecdotally but I can't point to any hard numbers.

Which means the single player game will be another epic story with alternately easy and ridiculously hard sections, and the multiplayer will be what you'd expect from the game series that introduced teabagging.

.

Haha, I was teabagging in 1999 on TFC, way before. Sure, the console jockeys discovered what was a natural evolution to insulting someone you've killed, but still.

i can't imagine halo 4 will be much different from every other halo game that's come out. That is to say the "innovations" generally involve different types of grenades rather than significant modifications to the gameplay mechanic. It probably wouldn't require much forward/independent thinking to ruffle feathers when it comes to a cash cow like Halo.

Why does it need a new mechanic or gimmick? If the core of the game is entertaining and a new narrative is applied who cares? I can think of dozens of examples of books and movies that have numerous sequals, volumes, installments, etc. where the characters and style are the same but the story arc continues throughout.

I say give the people what they want. If you don't care for it then don't buy it. If you can't be creative working on the title go start your own studio. Good for Ryan for persuing what he wants.